Bethel seniors hope to leave winning legacy

Published 7:00 pm, Friday, March 7, 2008

Not with seven seniors, five of whom start, and the entire nucleus of a playoff-caliber team returning.

But that was the harsh reality which stared back at the Wildcats as the regular season came to a close.

Despite racing out to a 5-1 start this season, Bethel finished the regular season just 11-9 overall and lost three of its last four games to close with a 5-8 South-West Conference mark.

And as the top-eight SWC playoff teams went to war, the Wildcats found themselves watching as they had so many years before.

"That's where we wanted to be all year," Bethel senior captain Ryan Rose said of the SWC playoffs. "We have never made the league playoffs before and we thought this was the year. It didn't work out, but we knew we were still a very good team."

No one is debating that now, especially not in Killingly.

The top seed in the Class M state tournament had its season end prematurely at the hands of the No. 17 Wildcats, who pulled out a stunning 56-43 win on Thursday in the Class M second round at Killingly High.

The upset victory matches Bethel up with eighth-seeded Abbott Tech, a team the Wildcats have beaten by double-digits twice this year, in the Class M quarterfinals at 7 p.m. on Monday at Brookfield High School.

"We had a low seed," said Bethel senior guard Keegan Burke, who had four points in the upset. "We had a tough draw, but I think we were all thinking upset. We were all really upset about not making the SWCs and (the state tournament) was our only hope at redemption."

Bethel (13-9) got it in big way Thursday as the Wildcats ousted a team that entered the game with just three losses.

The Wildcats excelled on offense as Walsh and Rose broke the Killingly full-court and half-court pressure and found Bethel forwards Matt Barnes and Devaney open underneath.

"They play a similar style to Notre Dame (of Fairfield) and we managed to beat them," Bethel coach Ray Turek said. "We knew we were a good team and we had something to prove."

Bethel showed exactly how solid and versatile they are on defense, switching between a new 2-3 zone and its traditional man-to-man set.

The Wildcats limited Killingly's and the state's leading scorer, Shane Gibson, to just 19 points -- 12 below his season average.

Gibson, who signed a letter of intent with Division I Scared Heart in Fairfield, was slowed by another Division I athlete in Barnes.

The 6-4 Barnes, who signed to pitch for UConn next year, held the 6-2 Gibson in check and tallied 15 points himself, turning the matchup into a virtual stalemate.

"My focus was solely on defense," Barnes said. "I just wanted to keep him from scoring 25 points or more. I knew I had to step it up."

Barnes isn't alone in his sentiment.

The Wildcats knew when the playoffs arrived they had to take their game to another level, one they had failed to reach all season.

"We brought our intensity up a notch," Rose said. "We knew this was it for us. This was our last chance."

And Rose and his teammates are keenly aware of the intensity needed for success in state tournament.

Rose, Walsh and Dan Kraver all were on the Bethel boys soccer team which reached the state semifinals and Barnes pitched the baseball team into the Class L second round last year.

"It never hurts to have experience," Turek said. "These kids are comfortable in this environment."

The one thing the Wildcats aren't comfortable with is their legacy.

Bethel's seven seniors (Walsh, Rose, Barnes, Devaney, Burke, Kraver and Louis Pepe) were supposed to be the group to make Bethel basketball relevant again.

"We want to leave our mark on this program," Rose said. "We didn't get it done early in the year and this is our last chance."

And that attitude now has the Wildcats overachieving, instead of the dreaded alternative.